On Neal:
I have a great line with Neal and Kunitz. We try to play 100 percent every game. Sometimes we play simple, chipping the puck and play in the offensive zone. We communicate a lot and practice hard.

On Neal going to All-Star Game:
Why not? It’s his best year. If he plays the next month great then why not?

On being player of month:
Thanks to my teammates. They help me play great. I have confidence now. I believe in myself. It was a great summer of workouts. I worked in practice and try to play the same.

On himself in ASG:
I don’t know. There are lots of good players in the NHL. I’ll try. It’s not my choice.

On playing with Neal in ASG:
It would be fun. We understand how to play and score a couple goals in the All-Star Game too.

On the week of non-games:
It’s nice to have. It gives us a little break. We can regroup here, rest up and focus on getting back to playing some good hockey. It’s a tough break when you lose a couple in a row, but we have to rest and get ready.

On using the week to heal injuries:
We have a lot of injuries. At the same time we can’t worry about that stuff. The guys will get healthy and come back. We just have to focus on who is in the locker room and get back to playing the way we know how.

On it being a year since they played in Winter Classic:
It’s been going so fast. We’re already past Christmas now. It’s crazy. The season goes by so fast.

On this week of non-games:
It will be nice. We’ve been pretty busy all year long. We’ve traveled a lot. To be home for a bit in Pittsburgh will be nice. We get some days off this week. We can practice. Some guys with bumps and bruises can heal.

On playing the All-Star Game:
It’s nice to go. It was a lot of fun last year. The fans were great to vote me in. It was a great experience. But my focus now is winning games with the Penguins.

On practicing:
It felt good today. I had the day off yesterday. Today felt good to be out there. It was fun. We have a couple more days of (practice), which is good before the next game.

On using the week to progress:
That’s our game plan right now. We have some days ahead of us to get work done. Our goal is definitely for (playing) Friday.

On pacing his return:
Sometimes you want to work on things that have limited you from getting back from an injury. I’ve been able to do a lot of stuff with our strength and conditioning coach (Mike Kadar) and other guys off the ice to get ready to go. It’s different for everybody with things to work on. When you don’t play games you get rusty and try to work on things so that doesn’t happen.

On pushing it without aggravating:
There are times when you reach a certain point where you’re not going to make it any worse. You have to make sure you’re ready to play and it can withstand a game, back-to-back games. That’s what we’re trying to do right now.

11:23 AM:
Pens are on the ice for practice. Defenseman Paul Martin returns to practice for the first time since suffering a lower-body injury against Ottawa (Dec. 16). Pascal Dupuis (upper body) & Arron Asham (lower body) are the only players not practicing that aren't on IR. Both suffered injuries in New Jersey (Dec. 31).

11:00 AM:
Pens defenseman Ben Lovejoy returned to the lineup Dec. 20 against Chicago after rehabing from a broken wrist. PensTV gives you a behind-the-scenes look at his working toward a return to the game.

10:50 AM:
Malkin was named the NHL's First Star for the month of December after posting 20 points (6G-14A) in 13 games. He also recorded a nine-game scoring streak for 19 points in that span.

10:45 AM:
In Mike Lange's latest Journal entry, he discusses the final seconds counting down to Pittsburgh's first-ever Stanley Cup championship in 1991.

10:40 AM:
Since it's Monday and the start of a new week, it's time to look back at the best plays from last week.

10:30 AM:
Good morning from CONSOL Energy Center!! The Pens will hold an 11am practice today. This is a weird week in the schedule as the Pens will not have a game until Friday against the NY Rangers, a little break from the normally hectic game-filled days.

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This week we're going to change up the music a little bit. It's going to be a week of YouTube covers. So there is no better way to start the week than with a multi-collaboration of independent performers doing Radiohead's "Paranoid Android."